Rice To Visit Israel, Rome for Talks on Mideast Crisis
21 July 2006
Secretary of state calls for plan to ensure stable, enduring peace in region
Washington -- U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice announced plans to travel to Rome the week of July 23, where she will meet with members of the “Lebanon Core Group” to discuss the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hizballah. She also will stop in Israel and the Palestinian Territories to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. She plans to depart July 23.
In Rome, representatives of the Core Group, which includes Lebanon, the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Italy, the European Union, Russia, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the United Nations and the World Bank, will work to develop a plan for a sustainable resolution to the violence between Israel and Hizballah. Discussions will focus on political issues, security concerns, humanitarian needs, and support for the economic reconstruction of Lebanon, according to a State Department official.
“We do seek an end to the current violence, and we seek it urgently. More than that, we also seek to address the root causes of that violence so that a real and endurable peace can be established,” Rice said at a State Department press conference July 21.
In a separate briefing, Assistant Secretary of State for Near East Affairs David Welch told reporters, “We are not delaying here. If we can put in place the conditions tomorrow for a cease-fire, obviously we would do so. But we believe that it’s going to take some time – it doesn’t necessarily have to take a lot of time, and the less time it takes the better – we can put together elements for a more stable situation than we see right now.”
While reiterating Israel’s right to defend itself “in response to Hizballah’s outrageous provocation in an already tense region,” Rice said, “We urge Israel’s leaders to do so with the greatest possible care to avoid harming innocent civilians, and with care to protect civilian infrastructure.” She blamed Hizballah for initiating the violence and called for the release of the kidnapped Israeli soldiers.
Rice said Israel has responded positively to proposals “to open up a humanitarian corridor” so that international assistance can flow to the victims of the hostilities. She added that the United States intends to give Lebanon “direct humanitarian assistance.”
Creating a framework for lasting peace is the goal of the discussions in Rome, rather than a temporary cease-fire, which would be “a guarantee of future violence,” she said.
“You can't have a situation in which the south of Lebanon is a haven for unauthorized, armed groups that sit and fire rockets into Israel, plunging the entire country into chaos, when the Lebanese government did not even know that this was going to be done,” the secretary said.
Welch called Hizballah’s actions an assault on Lebanese democracy and said the United States would respond vigorously as a reflection of its commitment to the spread of democracy in the Middle East.
“There is nothing more anti-democratic than usurping the authority of the state to launch an act of warfare against a neighbor without the consent of the people or the state,” he said.
Rice advocated a framework of conflict resolution “along three tracks: political, economic and security.” In her view, the crisis likely will require a “robust” stabilization force to support the Lebanese government in deployment of its military forces throughout its territory. She said the composition of an international force is being considered, but that she does not expect U.S. ground forces to take part in the mission.
After a series of discussions with leaders from the Group of Eight (G8), several Arab countries and the United Nations team that just returned from the Middle East, Rice said, “I think we are beginning to see the outlines of a political framework that might allow the cessation of violence in a more sustainable way.”
She spoke of Lebanon as a “young government” that requires international assistance to regain and maintain stability. She said the United States remains committed to supporting the Lebanese government.
Welch said the Rome meeting also would serve to rally the international assistance Lebanon needs. “I think Lebanon will enjoy a great deal of international support. I think we will be able to muster a strong consensus to assist that country,” he said.
The transcript of Rice’s press conference is available on the State Department Web site.
(The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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